Pamana: The Cabrera Attestation

Salvador Cabrera Sr. was the forerunner. Friends and colleagues called him the ripple maker, as he had successfully influenced their lives in the world of art, particularly his younger brother now a National Artist—and his son—a painter and sculptor to watch.

But that’s going ahead of the story.

Bading, as we was fondly called by friends, started as an illustrator for comics in the 50s. Together with writer Emilio “Abe” Aguilar Cruz, he created the character “Bindoy” for the then leading afternoon newspaper The Daily Mirror. When he had moved on to painting children in the 60s, his works somehow still reflected remnants of his cartoons with those beautiful, round soulful eyes. The children could be Bading himself, his playful nature subconsciously juxtaposed, in his Mother and Child series, to the inner strength and gentle spirit he also was, in his paintings on women. Experimenting with the human body and focusing on his surroundings, his works embarked on more serious themes as shown in Market and sometimes a combination of both woman and her struggles as seen in the Young Vendor, essentially the Filipino’s everyday life just like Bindoy’s.

The older Cabrera didn’t stray on conventional popularity where his talent could’ve immortalized him in a museum bust, yet his brother and National Artist Benedicto “BenCab” Cabrera—who is 13 years younger—claims Bading introduced him to the arts. And from living the bohemian life of a Mabini artist, emerged another apprentice, his fifth son Jojo Ayllon Cabrera.

Jojo vividly remembers growing up toying with clay and smelling linseed oil while his now deceased father chatted with the likes of Guillermo Tolentino – creator of The Oblation masterwork at the University of the Philippines and Napoleon Abueva, one of the primary sculptors of the massive Dambana ng Kagitingan, Bataan. Both of whom are National Artists. His mentor had set a solid guidance on Jojo, who currently uses acrylics in his works, but most importantly making his own contribution to the family legacy through sculptures out of “post-consumer materials” or what the ordinary and practical would call as garbage or junk.

Pamana, the well-attended exhibition showcased the outstanding bodies of work of the ripple maker, from editorial illustrations to sketches; and the son, who featured his paintings and sculptures. It was held at the Altro Mondo - Arte Contemporanea recently.

It highlighted a legacy that followed in the footsteps of immaterial passion and devoted discipline, while mastering with experimentation a cycle to which oeuvres are created one step further, a process that lives beyond the decomposed canvasses and faded paint. (FREEMAN)